The video ad you see below promotes BMW’s inclusion of Siri into the car’s systems as an integral part of how you interact with it. However, the way they chose to promote it was deemed offensive by Linda Rosenberg, the CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health.
You’ve already seen it; it portrays a woman dressed in a nightgown staring at an X3-driving middle-aged couple that have just reached what we assume is their overnight stay, at “Sprout Brook Inn.” The man exclaims that “she looks crazy” and this prompts them to ask the in-built Siri for information on the place – they learn about some “slayings” that went down at the spot and immediately ask Siri for directions to not the nearest, but the furthest five-star hotel.
I honestly didn’t really find this offensive to mentally ill people – its message could be interpreted not as being about crazy people who should be avoided, but rather one of not judging based on appearance; it’s a matter of personal perspective and being over-opinionated (or not)…
I mean, we don’t really know if said lady was ill or not, and the ad doesn’t try to answer that question – it tells you that technology can sort everything out so you don’t have to (speak to potentially crazy people).
Via CNBC